For those who haven't heard, there's been some disturbing news about comic writer Brian Wood recently. Brian Wood is currently the writer for the Dark Horse Comics Star Wars series. Several people have came out an accused him of inappropriate conduct.

Brian Wood has actually made a public statement about the events which you can view here.

It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. Will Dark Horse terminate Brian Wood's contract early? Will they let him finish the Star Wars comics he is currently contracted for? Will they actually keep him on and renew his contract?_________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Re: Disturbing News about Brian Wood

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:23 pm

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Darth_HenningMaster

Joined: 12 Apr 2011Posts: 534Location: Canada

Darth Skuldren wrote:

For those who haven't heard, there's been some disturbing news about comic writer Brian Wood recently. Brian Wood is currently the writer for the Dark Horse Comics Star Wars series. Several people have came out an accused him of inappropriate conduct.

Brian Wood has actually made a public statement about the events which you can view here.

It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. Will Dark Horse terminate Brian Wood's contract early? Will they let him finish the Star Wars comics he is currently contracted for? Will they actually keep him on and renew his contract?

I admit to only having skimmed the article but I get the general gist.

My stance on this is that someone's personal behaviour shouldn't really influence the quality of their work. Much like Orson Scott Card's homophobic statements led a lot of people to boycott Ender's Game (which is actually quite a good movie), I think that termination of contact, or lack of renewal based on this rather than the quality of work is stupid.

If when this matter gets sorted out legally (as it likely will be) and he is found guilty of something, then yes, there's some grounds for not wanting him on staff.

But realistically, there's plenty of people who have questionable behaviour that isn't brought to light. Simply because he's made some rather poor judgement calls shouldn't be a cause to alter his work, unless its blatantly illegal (as decided by a court). Unless, his behaviour in the workplace on this particular comic (and whatever else he's contracted to do) makes it impossible for others to work with him (which doesn't appear to be the case currently), this should have no bearing on his contract and renewal there-of in its current state.

But that is of course my opinion._________________

Darth Skuldren wrote:

Yes, we're still at the mercy of Darth_Henning

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 8:04 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 4770Location: Korriban

@Henning: I honestly know that the actions of a creator can hurt the success of the creation. This will damage the sales of the comic, there's no question about it. I think they'll give it a month or two to see how badly but it won't be a moral decision for them but rather a business decision.

As to his behavior...its despicable, and his actions are disgusting but the thing is that had someone said something earlier we wouldn't be here right now. I won't blame the people he's behaved inappropriately towards but I'm going to say someone should have said something quicker, it could have been a one-time issue._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:49 pm

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Darth_HenningMaster

Joined: 12 Apr 2011Posts: 534Location: Canada

Caedus_16 wrote:

@Henning: I honestly know that the actions of a creator can hurt the success of the creation. This will damage the sales of the comic, there's no question about it.

I think they'll give it a month or two to see how badly but it won't be a moral decision for them but rather a business decision.

Most likely true on both counts. That said, I don't particularly agree with it as I said above.

Caedus_16 wrote:

As to his behavior...its despicable, and his actions are disgusting ...

Having no re-read the article in its entirety, yes, it is a rather disgusting, and unusually bad case of sexual harassment. But in reality, no worse than occurs at dozens of normal workplaces every day. Events which anyone outside HR or a legal department would never hear of.

I certainly think it should be dealt with, but boycotting of the title/author isn't really a practical solution to same._________________

Darth Skuldren wrote:

Yes, we're still at the mercy of Darth_Henning

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:55 pm

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Murray1134Padawan

Joined: 16 Jan 2012Posts: 94Location: Roanoke, VA

While not defending his actions in any way shape or form. Only two people really know what happened then.

Really and truly Wood's actions are a symptom of a larger problem in the comics and genre realm._________________EUCantina Comic Book Reviewer
"That's just my opinion, I could be wrong"
TK-5990
www.FanboysTalking.com

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:00 am

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Taral-DLOSMaster

Joined: 23 Nov 2010Posts: 1727Location: Ontario, Canada

I'm one of the people that won't see Ender's Game for reasons of not giving money to a human rights abuser (also I found what few OSC books I've read to be utter garbage).

The Brian Wood thing is a bit different. For one, the OSC thing isn't about giving money to a hate-monger, it's about giving money to someone who I know will use that money to continue mongering hate. Brian Wood is apparently a misogynist and a tool, and I have no desire to meet him or have him sign books or anything like that, but the truth is that he isn't using the money I give him to combat the rights of women, or otherwise further an agenda of anti-woman hate. At best, the extra money and popularity is giving him a bit more clout to be a tool at Conventions, and the internet and a feminist culture that continues to grow and thrive will take care of that separately.

Also, I'm only buying one title of his now (adjectiveless X-Men), and that title happens to be good. I dropped Star Wars on account of the fact that it was terrible and I try not to waste my money or time on garbage because it has the words "Star Wars" on it._________________"I'm...from Earth."

While not defending his actions in any way shape or form. Only two people really know what happened then.

Really and truly Wood's actions are a symptom of a larger problem in the comics and genre realm.

Anna Scherbina also came forward and posted a detailed account of her encounter with Brian Wood, and how he retaliated against her for turning him down. The thing that really struck me about both Tess Fowler's and Anna Scherbina's accounts was the power imbalance inherent in them. In both instances Wood was in a position above them in the comic books world pecking order. I have no problem believing the women because I, like many women, have suffered this exact kind of power dynamic sexual harassment. I think it's all but impossible for men to really understand what women deal with because they are women.

The other factor that causes me to believe these women is the wide discrepancies between Wood's account and the very detailed account by both these women. These details are burned in these women's brains because of the humiliating nature of the encounters. Wood is trying to spin it into a more or less benign situation to save his own *ss. Wood is not passing the smell test. Idk if Wood is someone who's seen the error of his ways since then, or if he just has a major disconnect between supporting feminism in principle and sexually harassing women in person. But I suspect the latter since he's trying to CYA by spinning the encounters. I'd have a lot more respect for him if he just manned up, and publicly and abjectly apologized to the women -- including his wife._________________Roqoo Depot co-founder.

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:27 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 4770Location: Korriban

@Taral: Your ticket purchase goes to help organizations fighting for homosexual rights, the studio is doing all it can to distance itself from Card. If you decide to see it rest assured that it'll go to a good cause (at least a percentage of it will)._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:36 pm

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CerrineaMaster

Joined: 09 Jun 2009Posts: 1491

OSC is getting profits from Ender's Game because he did not sign over his rights & his production company, Taleswapper, was involved in making the movie.

@Taral: Your ticket purchase goes to help organizations fighting for homosexual rights, the studio is doing all it can to distance itself from Card. If you decide to see it rest assured that it'll go to a good cause (at least a percentage of it will).

I did not know that! Is there a link to a story about this?

Not sure that it will make me see the movie, given the fact that I so very much hated the Ultimate Iron Man books he wrote. Seriously, OSC wrote two Iron Man miniseries that barely featured Iron Man, and included a Tony Stark with brain tissue throughout his body needing to wear blue paint armor as a baby because his skin was too sensitive. Terrible._________________"I'm...from Earth."

While his actions were despicable, this may have been a one-time deal a long time ago. Like Caedus said, this should have been mentioned long before now.

And for the record, I saw the Ender's Game premier and I absolutely loved it. If I boycott that just because I don't agree with OSC then I'd have to skip buying almost any kind of entertainment because there's going to be a douchebag somewhere getting my money. Art =/= the artist._________________

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:27 pm

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CerrineaMaster

Joined: 09 Jun 2009Posts: 1491

Taral-DLOS wrote:

Caedus_16 wrote:

@Taral: Your ticket purchase goes to help organizations fighting for homosexual rights, the studio is doing all it can to distance itself from Card. If you decide to see it rest assured that it'll go to a good cause (at least a percentage of it will).

I did not know that! Is there a link to a story about this?

I believe the studio said they'd give the proceeds from one (as in single) premiere to a gay rights organization. Idk if that happened.

@Taral: Your ticket purchase goes to help organizations fighting for homosexual rights, the studio is doing all it can to distance itself from Card. If you decide to see it rest assured that it'll go to a good cause (at least a percentage of it will).

I did not know that! Is there a link to a story about this?

I believe the studio said they'd give the proceeds from one (as in single) premiere to a gay rights organization. Idk if that happened.

You have to do research on individual theatres but many across the country said they'd donate the proceeds for a large percentage to groups as well. My city doesn't do it, I didn't see it. I believe many across the country are doing it though, or did for at least the first week or so (biggest profits). There was a lot going on to try to make sure that it didn't all go to Card (though I was unaware he got as much as he did from it, clever old man kept his rights)._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

The reality is that PR matters to a company and it's bad for business if an employee makes people angry. Whether that is right or not is a matter of perspective, but from the discussion it seems like Wood is living up to an adjective for his name, so it's not a biggie.

Also if you have mixed feelings about supporting hate by seeing Ender's Game, it's not a very good movie anyway._________________The absurd man thus catches sight of a burning and frigid, transparent and limited universe in which nothing is possible but everything is given, and beyond which all is collapse and nothingness. He can then decide to accept such a universe and draw from it his strength, his refusal to hope, and the unyielding evidence of a life without consolation.